By SHAUNA ANDERSON

Warning: This post deals with details of sexual assault and may be distressing for some readers.

Katie was attacked and acid thrown in her face

In March 2008 the life of Katie Piper, a television presenter and model, changed in an instant.

A man she had met on Facebook raped and beat her.

He held her hostage for eight hours — threatening to take her life, to cut her throat. Stabbing her repeatedly before releasing her.

Shocked and terrified, Katie refused to go to the police.

She had been dating the man, Daniel Lynch, for two weeks.

After weeks of apologies and phone calls Katie, from Hampshire in the UK, agreed to go to an internet cafe to read an email Lynch had sent to her.

She had no idea what Lynch had planned.

Katie was approached by a hooded man hired by Lynch who threw sulphuric acid in her face.

Katie after the acid attack

The attack was caught on CCTV and both Lynch and the attacker Stefan Sylvestre were arrested – and later jailed.

Katie was hospitalised for months, enduring 40 surgical operations to treat her injuries. Her entire face was rebuilt in an historic operation which had never been done before – but she was left blind in her left eye.

Now, six years later, Katie Piper has fought back and written about the one thing that has turned her life around – the birth of her daughter.

She writes in her book Beautiful Ever After, in a segment republished in the The Daily Mail:

Katie says that she never thought she would find someone to love her.

But then life changed when she met a carpenter, James who she says “was proud to be with me and didn’t care what other people thought. “

Katie’s baby daughter Belle

The birth of their daughter, Belle has now brought Katie more joy and happiness than she could have ever imagined.

We wish the inspirational Katie and her family many, many more smiles and happiness in the future.

For more on Katie’s new book, visit her Facebook page.